Pure Souls
by SugarSkullDoll
Summary: When Cas asks Dean to come to town on a possible case, Dean figures he can check it out and then see if he can convince his ex-angel to come back to the bunker. What neither expected was to find the meaning of family, each other, and of what a pure soul could really be. Takes place before S9, no Ezekiel, Kevin is ok.
1. Chapter 1

Pure Souls

Chapter One

((OK this is my first story in a very long time! No beta yet, so please, please be gentle!))

"Hello Dean, I might have a case for you." Castiel knew how to start a conversation. Dean groaned, rolling in his bed a bit before sitting up. It'd been three weeks since Castiel left the bunker. He hadn't heard from him, so the sudden call was surprising.

"Oh yeah Cas? Nice to hear from you by the way." Dean sighed, stretching. "Alright, whatcha got?"

"There have been a lot of disappearances of children in the last few months. Since the...Meteor shower." Dean woke up a bit more at the mention of the angels falling.

"You think Angels might have something to do with this?"

"I don't know, but it's worth a look into right? I can't do much, and I figured...if you didn't mean…" Castiel as a human was kinda adorable, Dean wouldn't admit it but he smiled to himself as his former guardian angel stuttered and struggled with his words.

"Alright, I'll do it. Same town you're in right?"

"Yes. Will...Sam be with you?" Sam still hadn't fully recovered from the failed trials. Most of the day he was resting, and was still very weak.

"Probably not. I'll leave him here with Kevin. If it's something up my alley, great if not...well maybe I'll check it out and then come visit you."

"If you want, but I doubt I'll have time. Let me know when you're in town. I need to get back to work." Castiel quickly ended the call, and Dean just shook his head.

"Are you sure you don't need me Dean?" Dean was hoping to leave during one of Sam's power naps. Dean sighed and looked to his brother.

"Yes Sammy I'll be fine. Look just, why not get some more rest, and keep an eye on Kevin. You both need some rest, and...maybe I can bring Cas home." Sam nodded, and knew his brother was restless knowing that Castiel was out there. They tried to talk him out of it, but he insisted that he needed to go out on his own, that he couldn't risk them. It was very upsetting, and Sam was surprised Castiel even called Dean after the fight they had.

Castiel was watching two people interacting while getting coffee; he didn't even see the older Winchester come up. Dean grinned, and decided to give Castiel a taste of his own medicine. As Castiel focused on mimicking the two customers, Dean got closer and just gave his best "Cas Stare" getting one hell of a jump when Castiel finally noticed.

"Dammit Dean!" Castiel cursed, and winced at the hot coffee spilling over him and the floor.

"Shit Cas I'm sorry!" Dean helped him clean up the floor, and started to help him clean his work vest. Castiel watched as Dean tried to take care of him, and finally sighed.

"It's ok Dean. I'll...get another work vest."

"Does that cost money?"

"...It...might…" Castiel looked uncomfortable.

"Do you have said money?"

"...You're not going to believe me if I say yes, will you?" Dean chuckled a bit.

"Nope. I'll get you a new one while I'm in town. So, what do you know about the case?"

"From what I can tell, children from the age of 3-10 are going missing. Not only from schools or parks, but from their own homes." Dean frowned. He hated jobs with kids.

"Where's most of them from?" Castiel picked up the paper he was looking at with the information, and handed it over. Dean read over the article, and nodded. "Alright, I'll check in with you later and let you know what I got." Castiel nodded, and sighed.

"And I need to get back to work." Dean rolled his eyes a bit.

"Cas, you know you could-"

"This is not up for discussion Dean. I'll call you on my break." He mumbled, and walked to the back. Dean sighed and left the Gas-n-Sip.

After reading the article, Dean went to where the last abduction took place at. It was a playground, and Dean kept reading over the article and looking at where they were last scene. Something caught his eye as he started to walk towards the school where some of the other abductions took place. In one of the houses with a clear line of sight to both the school and the playground, was a strange light in the window. Dean saw that light before. It was angelic grace. Instantly he pulled out his gun and bolted to the house.

When Dean stormed the house, he wasn't expecting to find the door unlocked. He also didn't expect to see several bodies, obviously the missing children, dead. Cas told him that there were kidnappings, but he didn't expect them to be dead when he got there. Not all were dead; he realized when he heard the crying from the basement. He rushed downstairs where he saw three women; one looked like she was getting ready to beat one of the survivors, while the other two were disposing of other bodies.

It only took three shots, and they dropped. He froze for a moment, before looking to the surviving two children. The boy looked a bit older, maybe 6, while the little girl looked to be maybe 3 or 4 at the most. Dean lowered his gun, and watched as the boy held the crying girl, obviously shielding the girl from the beatings they were getting.

"Hey...its ok, you're safe now…." Dean put his gun away, and got down on one knee to show he wasn't going to hurt them. The boy watched, still sniffling as he held the little girl.

"P-Promise?" he said softly, biting his lip to hold back a sob.

"I promise…" Dean said, as he motioned for them to come over to him, and gave him a kind smile "What's your name?"

"A-Alex…" The boy had the clearest blue eyes, which after he rubbed the tears away from; he started to walk towards Dean with the little girl.

"Hi Alex, I'm Dean...and who's this pretty little girl?" The girl had stopped crying when Dean started to talk to her, hiccupping slightly but staring at him with just a clear green eyes.

"This is my sister, Clara…" Dean's heart sank. Brother and sister...siblings, like him and Sam were.

"Well hello Clara, it's nice to meet you." Dean kept his kind smile on, and was taken back when the girl suddenly rushed him and clung to him. "I'm gonna get you out of here ok?" Alex nodded, and after Dean picked up Clara, he held his hand out for Alex to take. Alex took it, and Dean gave him a comforting squeeze of the hand, before leading him out. As he got them into the impala, he called the police for the other bodies. He figured he'd take these two to the station himself instead of waiting for them to get there.

"What do you mean you have to keep them here?!" Dean was not happy when he got to the police station. He was lucky enough to grab his fake FBI badge before taking the kids to the station. Both of them looked dirty, skinny and hungry when finally seen in the light, and all Dean wanted to do is make sure they got home safely.

"Apparently child services won't be able to get here till Monday, not with all the other deaths and disappearances that have been happening. Means with these two kids, we got nothing to do with them but put them in one of the cells in the back. It's not the best idea, but it's all we got with all the different counties being hit. So unless you got a better plan, Agent…"

"...Yeah, they're staying with me." Even Dean was surprised when he heard himself speak up. He looked to the kids that were sitting in the chair behind him, waiting. "I'm in town for a few days, and that way they can be out of your hair, and I can make sure this 'child services' of yours helps them get back to their parents." It looked like the officer wanted to argue, but with the steely look Dean gave him, he nodded.

"I'll tell the sheriff then."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

"Hello Dean, how did the hunt go?" Castiel was on his break at the store, and was anxious to hear what Dean found, and when he saw the many missed calls from his close friend, he was worried.

"Not as good as I liked. Hey Cas, you know where the motel is right? The Restless Inn?" Dean had gotten a motel close to Castiel's work, and was currently watching the two kids sleep. After stopping and getting them food, they devoured all they could before curling up on the bed and slept.

"Yes...why what's wrong?"

"Good news, the bitches who abducted the kids are dead. Bad news, so is most of the kids. However, I have two rugrats who're resting right now, and apparently child services isn't in till Monday, so I told them I'd look after them till then. Can...You come to the motel? Please? I'm...I'm in over my head here."

"I don't understand...I thought you were good with kids, you had Ben when you were with Lis-" Dean cut him off before he even finished mentioned his past love.

"Ben was a lot older than these two Cas. Please?" Dean hated sounding desperate, but he couldn't help it.

"I understand. I'll let my manager know and I'll be there shortly."

When Castiel finally showed up, Dean was surprised to see he had stopped and gotten a first aid kit, extra shampoo and soap, and bottled water.

"Wow Cas, you come prepared."

"Of course Dean." He smiled at his friend, before looking to the kids. Clara woke first, and was watching the strange man near the door. "Hello little one...what's your name?" Castiel began to take off his coat and his still ruined work vest, before going over to the bed and sat at the end of it.

"...Clara." She spoke softly, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

"My name is Castiel. But, you can call me Cas." Castiel realized his full name might be harder for the girl to pronounce.

"Hi Cas." She smiled shyly, before crawling out from under the covers and towards Castiel. Castiel looked anxiously towards Dean, who was smirking at the ex-angel's uneasiness. He had to try not to laugh when Clara actually climbed up into Castiel's lap and clung to him. Castiel instinctively wrapped an arm around her tiny frame. "Where's mommy?" She asked, frowning a bit. Castiel looked to Dean for help with a slight look of panic on his face.

"We're gonna go to your mommy on Monday. There's gonna be some nice people who help us find her ok?" Dean said, and looked over to Alex, who just woke up. Alex watched Dean with sad eyes, however before Dean could ask, they heard Clara whimper.

"Back hurts…" She said softly after getting a quizzical look from everyone.

"May I see?" Castiel asked, and after a soft nod, he looked to her back and lifted the dirty shirt she had on. On her back there were scratches, bruises and cuts all up and down. Dean tensed, and looked to Alex.

"Do you have the same thing on yours?" He asked, and Alex nodded, before pulling his shirt off. He was skinnier than Dean thought he was, and his front and back were covered in cuts and bruises. "Who did this?" Dean all but growled out.

"Those bad ladies." Clara spoke up. "But Alex kept me safe." Castiel smiled at her, before looking to Alex.

"It's my job." The boy spoke softly, and Dean went over, and ruffled his hair after Alex pulled his shirt back on.

"And you did a good job. How about a warm bath for the both of you, and we'll get those cuts all bandaged up ok?" Alex nodded, and looked like he might cry a bit. "Something wrong buddy?"

"My dad use to tell me good job." Alex kept looking back from him to Clara, as if he didn't want to speak about what was on his mind in front of his sister. Dean bit his lip, before motioning Alex to follow him to the bathroom to start up the bath.

"Dean, I have a co-worker who has two kids, maybe she can help with finding new clothes for these two." Castiel spoke up; however he couldn't get up without carrying Clara. He pulled out his cell phone and called his co-worker, who luckily was off. Dean nodded and went to the bathroom, and started up the warm water. Once he was satisfied with the water, he sat down on the closed toilet seat and looked at Alex.

"What's wrong buddy?" He spoke softly and actually motioned for Alex to close the door behind him. He did, and as soon as he heard the door click close, he started crying.

"I-I'm sorry….it's just…our Moms are dead...I haven't told Clara yet, because….how do you tell someone that?! That 'Mommy's dead and Daddy's never coming back' and-" Alex yelped slightly when he felt Dean pull him over and hold him.

"I know….it hard….it hard to explain to your younger sibling what's going on. You want to protect them, protect their innocence as long as possible...I completely understand Alex. And I'm proud of you, for being so strong for Clara. We'll….We'll figure this out together ok?" Alex nodded into his shoulder, still crying. Dean reached over and stopped the water before the tub overflowed, and carefully rocked Alex back and forth till he calmed down. A knock came from the door. "Yeah?"

"My co-worker, Rachel, she should be over with some clothes here soon. She actually has a little boy and girl, so she said she should have some old clothes for them both. And she said she'd bring over some toys for them." Castiel had poked his head in, and he was still holding Clara. "Everything ok?"

"Yeah, just having some guy time. You guy guys ready for a bath?" Clara nodded, and squirmed to get down, while Alex rubbed his face and nodded.

"Thank you" He whispered to Dean. Dean just smiled and ruffled his hair. A few minutes later, with some help from Cas, they got the kids cleaned up enough to finally tell what was dirt and what was discoloration from bruising. Dean was surprised to find that both of them actually had blonde hair, it had looked brownish, most likely from all the dirt. Castiel heard the door, and excused himself while Dean was drying Clara off.

"Hello Steve!" Rachel smiled as she held up several bags.

"Rachel...Thank you so much…"

"It's no problem, anything to help out a friend. You never said whose kids they were...are they yours?"

"It's a long story." Castiel gave her an apologetic smile.

"I gotcha. Well I brought a couple pairs of clothes for both, some coloring books, papers and coloring supplies, and you said they might be hurt so I grabbed these." The black haired woman pulled out two sets of Band-Aids, one Hello Kitty the other with Batman. Castiel blinked a bit at that. He was sure he got bandages, but didn't think about gender specific ones. Then again, angels didn't normally worry about that.

"Thank you so much. I'll return the clothes as soon as-"

"Don't worry about it Steve. It's the least I can do since you've covered my shift more than once while I had my own emergencies." She winked at him, waved and left. Castiel closed the door and started unpacking the items Rachel got for them. Dean brought Clara wrapped up in a towel out, and helped Castiel figure out an outfit for the both of them. After getting them both in underwear and pants, Castiel worked on getting Clara's cuts all cleaned up and let her pick out which bandages she wanted for which cuts, while Dean worked on Alex's back.

"Batman...cools…" Alex smiled softly as he spoke quietly. Dean chuckled a bit.

"Yeah, Batman's pretty cool. He's one of my favorite."

"Is that why you saved us?" Dean was stumped by the question, and it wasn't till Alex looked back at him he understood.

"OH! No...No I'm not Batman. I...my job is to help people."

"From bad people?" Clara spoke up, finally getting a shirt on. Castiel nodded and smiled over at Dean.

"Yeah."

"But you're not the police?" Alex asked, watching Dean's reactions.

"No...but that doesn't mean I can't help people." Alex seemed ok with that answer, and after Dean finished up, got his own shirt on.

"I better call Sammy. How about you stay here Cas and I'll go and get us Dinner?" Even though a few hours ago the kids ate, he didn't like how skinny and malnourished they looked. After getting opinions of what they liked and didn't, Castiel included, Dean left. Castiel turned on the TV, found some cartoons, and then watched as Clara went over to the coloring books and papers.

"Oh...those are for you guys, if you want." Castiel smiled at Clara, and Clara watched him, before nodding. She took up the crayons and began to draw while Alex watched Cartoons.

"Yes Sammy, Cas and I can take care of it. Look can you do me a favor and look and see if there's been any more children abductions and murders? I got the three bitches, but I don't know if there are more, and I don't want anything else coming after these kids….They've been through enough." Dean had just gone to the local diner and got just about anything he could think the kids would want besides what they told him. He was getting out of the car as he was talking to Sam.

"Dean...I know that tone." Sam warned, worried his brother would get attached.

"I'll be ok. Cas will be ok." Dean saw Cas at the door, showing concern. "Look I gotta go I'll call you later." He hung up and grabbed the food. "Everything ok?" He asked as he got to the door, Castiel helping him with some of the food.

"I'm not sure...I...I better just show you." He lead Dean in, and motioned to the drawings Clara had been doing while he was gone. Alex looked scared, which made Dean even more concerned.

"Whatcha drawing there little lady?" Dean was soft in his tone, as he looked at all the scattered drawings. Almost all of them were of Castiel and Dean, however what was concerning is that Castiel had black wings and a halo, and Dean had either a gun or a knife. He looked through them, surprised to see them hunting things, and the more recent one Clara was working on, was the two of them, with the kids. Again, Cas had wings, and Dean had a knife, that looked like the demon knife he had with him at the moment.

"I'm drawing you….and Cas…." Dean looked to Alex, who was biting his lip.

"And why'd you draw Cas with wings?" He asked, sitting down next to Clara.

"Cause he's an angel."

"Clara…" Alex gave a warning tone, and Dean motioned for him to calm down, that it was ok.

"...ok why don't you draw me with wings?" Thinking it might just be that she's fond of Castiel more.

"You don't have wings. you're not an angel. You…" Clara scrunched her face as she searched for the word. "hunt."

"Clara shut up!" Alex jumped up, and he went over to his sister, pulling the drawing away. "Don't lie!" He scolded, and Clara whined and stood up trying to get the drawing.

"I'm not lying! It's ok Alex!" Clara cried out when Alex pushed her away, and looked to the two men in the room.

"It's not ok! You can't lie to these nice people." Dean noticed that the lights started to flicker, and looked to Castiel as if he was doing it. Castiel gave him the same startled look before they looked back to Alex.

"I'm not lying!" Clara yelled. "Cas was an angel and Dean hunts bad things! Bad people!"

"SHUT UP!" At that moment he screamed, and the light bulbs in the room burst, causing Dean and Castiel to lunge forward to protect both kids. Alex tensed when Dean's hands went around him, and Dean hurt glass cracking afterwards.

"It's ok Alex." He spoke softly, showing he wasn't mad. "Just calm down ok?" Dean had figured out after the outburst that Alex was the one causing the chaos. Alex started to pant, and seemed to calm down enough that Castiel and Dean pulled away to look at the damage. The windows were cracked, and all the light bulbs were destroyed. Alex looked around with them, and looked over to the two fearful.

"I...I didn't mean…" He bolted to the bathroom, and Dean heard the door lock. He sighed, and figured he would work with one child at a time

"Clara...sweetie how do you know that I'm a hunter and Cas is an Angel?" He asked the little girl, watching as Castiel made sure she wasn't hurt

"I just do. But…Cas isn't an angel anymore...I dunno why. I just know he was one." Dean looked startled at the 4 year olds words, and then looked up to Castiel.

"I've got it here Dean, go check on Alex." Dean nodded and went to the bathroom door. He knocked, and when he got no response he knocked again and called out to the scared boy.

"Alex...hey buddy it's ok, I'm not mad-"

"Not yet, but you will be!" Dean could tell he was crying, and looked to see if there was a shadow by the door. Seeing as there wasn't one, he began to pick the lock to the bathroom door. When he got inside and closed the door behind him, he found Alex curled up in the tub, crying.

"It's ok Alex; just...tell me what's going on." Dean sat down carefully next to the bathtub, waiting patiently for the boy to explain.

"We're...We're not normal. Clara can see things and you saw what I can do. Please...Please don't hurt us. I'll try not to get angry and break stuff and-"

"Hey hey hey calm down!" Dean touched Alex's shoulder. "Nobody's hurting anybody and it's ok!" Alex stopped, watching Dean for a moment. "I'm use to not normal. Trust me. It's alright. No harm no foul. Now, how long has this been happening? " Alex took a few deep breaths to calm himself.

"For a few weeks now." Dean nodded; it matched up with when the Angels fell.

"Ok...Anything else you can do? Or Clara?"

"Clara only can see...things...I can't control mine when I'm upset, but...I can make some things move, and change the channels on the TV. Cas didn't notice I did that while you were gone."

"Probably because he was concerned about what Clara was drawing." Dean chuckled a bit. "You ready to come out now?" Alex nodded, and Dean lead him out of the bathroom.

"Is what Clara said true? You hunt things and Cas-"

"Was an angel, yeah. Long story." Dean shook his head. Alex nodded, before hearing his stomach growl.

"Food?" Clara peered over at her brother and Dean.

"Food." Dean nodded, but leaned down and whispered to Alex, "You may want to apologize to your sister." Alex nodded quickly and went over to Clara. After whispering something to her, she hugged him, and Alex hugged back. Dean looked over to Castiel, who looked pleased with the situation, but figured the hunter would tell him what was going on later on.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

After dinner, the rest of the night was spent calmly, with Clara coloring in the coloring books she had received, and Alex watched TV quietly. While they were cleaning up, Dean explained to Castiel about what Alex had told him, quietly though as to not bother the two kids.

"I didn't realize this was going to be this way as far as the case Dean. I'm sorry." Castiel looked guilty, and Dean was confused.

"Why are you sorry?"

"After we last spoke…I didn't think you'd come, let alone ask for my assistance." Dean bit his lip. He didn't want to think about the fight, or the hurtful things he had said to the former angel. He didn't want to remember the look on his face, even though that look had been haunting him since that day.

"It was a case Cas, of course I was gonna come." He muttered, before walking away and towards the bed. He sat next to Alex, and watched TV, avoiding the look he got from Castiel. It wasn't till it was about 11 that Dean noticed that Clara was nodding off in the corner where she was coloring.

"Alright, I think it's time for bed." Dean got up and stretched. Alex looked up to him, and nodded, before going over to Clara. Clara whined about going to bed, but not for the reason Dean thought

"I'm scared…"

"What are you scared of? You've got a former angel and a hunter in the room!" Dean tried to be reassuring, but the little girl whined a bit more.

"I'm scared of the dark…" Dean blinked, and remembered when Sammy was the same way when they were younger. He looked to Castiel, who grabbed the night stand that was in between the beds. Dean caught on and pushed the beds together, so the two queen beds became one "giant bed of awesome!" which made the kids feel better. They dozed off; Clara snuggled up to Cas and Alex holding onto Dean's shirt. Dean smiled, and looked over to Castiel, who looked exhausted.

"Long day?" He asked quietly. Castiel blinked a bit and looked over to Dean, and nodded.

"This, with the kids, is a new feeling to me. It's quite exhausting." Dean chuckled a bit.

"How so?" He asked.

"Well...I have felt many things during my time as a human. But...this is new. This feeling of….protecting these kids...warmth...it's different than what I feel towards you." Castiel said with no problem, but with the widening of Dean's eyes, he flushed and looked down...

"What kind of warmth Cas?" Dean asked, watching his best friend squirm a bit, but not too much thanks to Clara.

"I…It's hard to explain." Cas bites his lip, worried he may say something messed up.

"Is it the same warmth you feel with Sammy? Or with….Nora?" He had to wrack his brain for the ex-angel's manager.

"No...yours is….one of a kind. Just like with the kids. Both are separate...yet close." Dean reached out and touched Castiel's cheek, and the now mortal man nuzzled against it softly, looking scared. "Don't be upset with me…" Dean withdrew his hand, and sighed, trying to think as far as he felt.

"I'm not upset Cas…" Dean wasn't sure how he felt. It ached when Castiel wasn't there, and don't even get him started when he thought he was dead thanks to the Leviathan. "We'll figure this out Cas. Just know that, I don't hate you, and I'm not upset ok? I just….it's a lot to wrap my head around." Dean whispered, and chuckled as relief washed over Castiel's face. He nodded, and shifted so he was closer to Dean. Just before Dean fell asleep, he smiled at the sight next to him. Castiel was practically cradling Clara, and had his head nuzzled into Dean's shoulder, and Alex was spooned next to Dean's other side, clutching at his shirt. Dean pulled both the now mortal angel and the boy he started caring for closer.

It was 3 AM when Dean felt the little body next to him shake. He was use to waking up thanks to Sammy's nightmares, so he understood what was happening. He pulled himself away from Castiel carefully, trying not to wake him up but managed to get a yawn and bleary eyes from him. He motioned to Alex and gently shook him. Alex whimpered and kept tossing and turning.

"Alex...come on buddy wake up. It's just a dream." Dean comforted him, finally getting him awake. Alex looked around, terrified, before his eyes landed on Dean and Castiel. Tears started to fall as he wrapped his arms around Dean's neck, sobbing softly. Dean hugged him close, rubbing his back and whispered soothing words to the boy. Castiel shifted Clara a bit on his lap, before reaching up and brushing Alex's blonde hair out of his blue eyes. Alex looked to him; actually reached for him to slightly, before pulling back almost afraid to ask for more. Castiel pulled Dean and Alex closer, and Alex snuggled in between them, sniffling a bit as he started to calm down. Clara groaned and woke up a bit, looking to her brother.

"Alex? Bad dream?" Clara asked drowsily. Alex nodded, reaching out to brush Clara's hair out of her eyes.

"Yeah...sorry I woke you." He spoke softly, but smiled as Clara uncurled herself from Castiel and curled up with her big brother. A few shuffled movements later, Dean and Castiel were finally comfortable, with Alex in between them, and Clara curled up with him.

"It's ok, we're safe now Alex." She whispered, before falling back to sleep

"You ok?" Alex sniffled a bit, and didn't mind when Castiel brushed some of his tears away.

"Yeah...just...nightmares…" Dean nodded, and was glad Castiel was there to help comfort the boy

"You wanna talk about it?" Alex looked reluctant at the question, but slowly nodded.

"When...those women...took us, and they found out that we were special...They kept forcing us to use our powers. Clara…I wouldn't let them hurt her...I did most of their…'tests' "Alex spat the word out, face scrunching up in hate. "They….I…." Tears started to form in his blue eyes, and he looked up to the two men that were taking care of him and his sister. "I killed...those kids. They made...if I didn't….Clara…" was all he could get out as he started to sob all over again. Dean pulled him close again, rubbing his back.

"It's ok. It's ok Alex. I know…I have a younger brother myself. Sammy...and I…" He looked to Cas as he said this. "I would do anything to protect him. I have...done some pretty bad things to make sure he was safe..." He looked back down to the calming boy in his arms.

"R-Really?" Dean smiled and nodded.

"Really." Alex seemed to take comfort in that.

"So...I'm not a monster?" Alex asked quietly.

"No. You did what you had to, to protect family. And that's understandable." Dean leaned down and kissed Alex's head. "Now sleep. We'll be here when you wake ok?" Castiel nodded in agreement, and copied Dean, which seemed to make Alex feel better. He nodded, and yawned as he curled closer to the two older men. He was out in no time. "Thanks Cas."

"For?"

"I...I'm not really sure. For being here? For not making me do this on my own?" Dean looked over to him. "For caring?" Castiel smiled, and gently touched Dean's cheek.

"It's what I do Dean. Now. Get some sleep. We'll be here when you wake ok?" Dean chuckled softly when his own words were used against him. He snuggled closer to Castiel and the little ones and fell asleep.

The next morning Dean groaned as he heard someone knocking at the door. He untangled himself from the kids and Cas, and looked to see who it was before carefully opening the door.

"Sammy? Why-"

"Because after looking into those deaths I became concerned." Sam walked in, still in his "FBI" suit "I just came back from the morgue. I wanted to see the bodies myself. Did the kids have any strange markings on them?" Sam asked, before looking to the two and Castiel. Said ex-angel was just waking up and hearing Sam's voice, and yawned.

"Good morning Sam." He smiled a bit, before thinking back to when they cleaned the kids up. "I didn't see any strange markings…" Dean thought, and went over to the bed. Alex was up, but Clara was having a hard time waking up. Alex eyed Sam wearily, and helped Clara get up out of bed.

"Alex, remember when I said I had a younger sibling? This is Sam, my little brother." Sam smiled at the two. Alex relaxed and smiled a bit. Clara waved, still trying to wake up.

"I'm gonna take her to the bathroom to get dressed." Alex said, leading Clara to the bathroom and closing the door.

"So what's this about Sammy?" Dean asked as he watched the bathroom door.

"Apparently there's been kids' deaths and accidents going on since the Fall, and not just here. Everywhere. Normal accidents and such, the only odd thing is that some have had markings on them. It looked like Enochian, but I couldn't figure out what it meant." He looked to Cas hoping he could help.

"Let me see." Castiel suddenly got serious. Sam pulled out his laptop, and pulled up the pictures he took and found. He looked at them, and looked very, very confused. "It...It means Sin. Why would children be labeled with the markings for Sin?" Castiel looked up to the brothers, worried.

"I don't know Cas...but something tells me those two are mixed in this…" Dean looked to the bathroom again as Clara came rushing out, wanting Castiel to pick her up. Alex closed the bathroom door behind him, and walked over. "Hey Alex, can I talk to you for a bit?" Dean smiled, watching as Castiel picked up the little girl, and watching as she wanted to draw, but sit on her new favorite friends lap.

"Sure." Alex followed him outside, where he leaned on the hood of the Impala.

"Before you were taken….did anything strange happen to you?" Alex thought about it, before looking up to him.

"Remember when I said my dad wasn't around? He...He kinda ran off after him and my mom had a fight. She...didn't like how he kept taking me and Clara to a doctor."

"What kind of doctor?"

"He kept doing blood work and body exams." Alex visibly shudders. "I hated it. Dad kept making me promise not to tell Mom, but it wasn't till he started giving us these weird needles that Clara and I told."

"How were they weird?" Dean crossed his arms, concerned.

"The stuff in them...glowed. Made me feel sick. That's when Clara said Dad wasn't Dad...and I started noticing if I got angry...things happened." Alex shrugged. Dean stared at him, slightly terrified as he pulled this all together in his head. Someone was experimenting with kids.

"Is...is something wrong?"

"I dunno yet. Let's get back inside, and we'll talk to Cas and Sammy about this ok?" Alex nodded and was lead inside, where he told Castiel what the glowing stuff looked like, along with what he could remember of the doctor. Castiel frowned, rather confused himself.

"I'm not sure what that could be….I'll call Kevin to do some research at the Bunker-" Sam was cut off by Clara tugging at his pant leg.

"I'm hungry…"

"I am too. Let's get something to eat and we'll continue brainstorming when we get back ok?" Sam said, smiling at Clara, who smiled and nodded. Sam changed into some more comfortable clothing, and they decided it would be ok to take the kids to a diner down the street.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

It wasn't till after they ate there were any problems. Castiel asked to speak to Dean alone, and while Sam said he'd take the kids over to the bookstore for more coloring books, Castiel and Dean walked towards the Motel, since it wasn't far at all.

"I'm going to quit my job Dean. I should...probably stay around for this...for them…" Castiel said, after they got into the door.

"Cas, don't do that. We don't even know if we'll be taking care of them any longer then till tomorrow. I mean, why quit if you wanted to have a normal life?"

"I didn't…" Castiel huffed, and finally decided to tell Dean the truth. "I didn't want to leave the bunker Dean." He watched as Dean stopped, and looked to him.

"Then why did you?" He growled out, anger showing in his stance as he marched over to Cas to yell in the ex-angel's face. "Why did you leave if you didn't want to?!"

"I'm of no use to you!" Castiel's voice began to raise, his own anger coming through. That's one thing he hated about being human, was all the emotions. Hurt, Anger, Sadness...he hated it all. "I'm human now Dean, I can't help you, I can't help anyone! Hell I'm not even sure if I can help those children but I'm willing to try!"

"And you're saying I'm not?! We don't know what's going on with those kids, and for all we know it's nothing and they'll be put into protective custody tomorrow."

"Do you really want that for them? I'm not stupid Dean, and neither are you! They won't be cared for, or loved if anyone finds out they're different."

"What do you want me to do then Cas? Bring them along? Hell I can't even keep those I care about safe what makes you think I can keep two kids safe?!"

"Because you don't have to do it alone!" Castiel finally got fed up and grabbed the front of Dean's jacket, and pushed him against the wall. "I'll be there...Sam will be there, and Kevin Tran...please…." his voice became soft, and he lowered his head. "Don't push them away like you pushed me." Dean tensed, and let Castiel's words sink in. The fight from the bunker flashed in his head. The yelling from Castiel when he felt useless because he was human, and weak. The words Dean used against him, how he told him he couldn't take care of himself, how he would be of no use to him...everything.

"I didn't…" He already knew that was a lie.

"You did. I know you may not have meant to but you did. And it hurt...and that's why I couldn't stay. It hurt...too much." Dean watched as all the different emotions played on Castiel's face. Love, hurt, anger, sadness, regret...they all showed and Castiel started to pull away. Dean remembered how nice last night felt, and it hurt to think of that not happening again. How after all of this was over he'd go back to the bunker with Sam and Castiel...would become Steve, employee at Gas-n-Sip. He pulled the-no his- ex-angel into a tight embrace.

"I'm sorry...I'm sorry I'm so stupid...I didn't see...and I didn't mean to….I...I won't push you away anymore...and...we'll figure out what to do about the kids. Just don't…" His eyes closed as he felt Castiel's arms wrap around him. He felt warm. This must be the warmth he was talking about last night. Dean pulled back a bit, and looked Castiel in the eye. The former angel blinked eyes misty with unshed tears as he searched Dean's face for what he was thinking. Dean didn't expect himself to lean and capture the shorter man's lips with his own. The said shorter man tensed in surprise, before returning the kiss. He cupped Dean's face as Dean let his hands wander further down. The kiss was messy, yet sweet. Dean moaned a bit as he felt Castiel's hands go through his hair, pulling him closer. Dean pulled back slightly, resting their foreheads together.

"I forgive you." Castiel muttered softly, smiling a bit.

The door began to unlatch and Dean and Castiel pulled away from each other, both flustered as Sam and the kids came in. Castiel didn't turn to them, instead just rushed to the bathroom and closed the door. Dean rubbed his face as he looked to his brother, who had a knowing grin on his face.

"Don't even say it Sammy." Is all he growled out, before sighing. "I need to talk to you. Outside."

"Are you insane?!" Sam protested after Dean told him what his plan was. "You can't just bring two kids to the bunker!"

"Why not? They're no different than we were, just….without parents. We can't let them go into foster care...Think of the first time Clara mentions something odd, or Alex loses his temper. We don't even know what they are really, so I don't really trust having them out in the world right now."

"And you trust them in the bunker? With our lifestyle?!"

"Well...Cas is human so he could stay with them...and Kevin's always there…"

"...you're serious…" Sam blinked, watching the way Dean shifted. "...Alright. Let's do this." He shrugged and sighed. Dean grinned at his brother, and they went inside to tell the others. Castiel was out of the bathroom, and was looking at the books Clara and Alex got. When he saw Dean, he smiled a bit, and Dean gave him a smile back. Things would be ok, he thought. How wrong he was.

Before they left town Cas asked if he could go into the Gas-in-Sip to let his manager know personally what was going on. Dean figured that would be ok, gives them a chance to get the kids snack foods for the trip to the Bunker. While Cas was busy explaining why he had to leave, Alex walked around the store to find something he would like. Clara was still at Cas's side, and smiled shyly at Nora while Cas spoke. Dean was looking through the magazines, and out of the corner of his eye he noticed something. There was someone in the store, watching Alex. Dean's protectiveness overwhelmed him as he watched the man in the suit, before he noticed he had a weird gun...and an angel blade.

Dean dropped the magazine and instantly called for Alex. Alex turned, and was grabbed by the fallen angel. Dean yelled, pulling out his gun, but the angel used Alex as a shield. Castiel picked Clara up, and Dean motioned for him to go outside with Sam.

"It's just you and me buddy. Let the kid go." Dean said, watching him.

"I can't do that." The angel said, before tilting his head to the side, as if listening. It was then Dean realized he had a Bluetooth headset, and he was listening to instructions.

Alex's fear showed on his face. The angel shifted, and suddenly Alex cried out when he felt something go into his back. Dean instantly fired, hitting him in the head. As soon as the guy dropped Dean went and picked Alex up, looking to see what hurt him. The weird gun actually had a syringe in it, and whatever was in said syringe was now inside Alex. Dean carefully pulled it out, and helped him outside, gun aiming at anything that moved. Sam was knocked out, and Castiel and Clara were nowhere to be found. Dean went to Sam, and nudged him.

"Dammit Sam wake up!" Sam groaned, while Dean held Alex close. Alex was hyperventilating, and clutching him close. "Cas and Clara are gone!" Sam got up, and looked at Alex.

"What's wrong with him?"

"I don't know, they injected him with something!" Dean was starting to get frantic. "Come on Alex talk to me." Alex whimpered, and buried his face in Dean's chest.

"It hurts...and burns…" Dean reached down and felt the boy's head, and was startled to find him burning up. Dean looked to Sam, who seemed to understand what his older brother needed. They got into the car; Sam driving this time, and Dean held Alex in the back seat and began to check him as Sam left the Gas in Sip.

"What hurts buddy, you need to tell me." Dean tried to remain calm, but the shaking child in his arms started to scare him. Alex reached behind him and started to pull at his shirt. Dean helped him pull up his shirt and his breath caught when he sees the two bruising lumps that are on the boys back. The way they're starting to grow and shift, Dean knows exactly what they are. "Shit Sammy, the guys trying to turn them into Angels!" At that moment, his phone began to vibrate. It was his personal cell, and he only knew of three people who had his number. Sam, Kevin, and Castiel. Sure enough, when he pulled it out it saw it had Castiel's name on it. He opened it quickly to answer. "Cas?!"

"I'm afraid Castiel is a bit tied up at the moment." A deeper voice came through. Dean tensed up, and looked to Sam, who was watching him through the rear view mirror.

"Alright listen you son of a-"

"No you listen, Dean Winchester. I'm not interested in your formal guardian angel. I want the boy." Dean looked to Alex, who was starting to sweat due to his fever. "My men tell me he got injected….so I'm sure you have your hands full."

"Just what the fuck did you do to him?" Dean tried to keep his voice from shaking, but he was already afraid of the truth.

"I'm turning into God's Warrior...just like I did with all the others...now. I propose a trade. The boy, for your angel...sorry...former angel."

"And the girl?!"

"She stays with me. Quite the screamer she is. I will text you the coordinates shortly. And Dean? Don't do anything stupid. Castiel is, mortal I'm afraid...easier to kill." The man whispered the last part before hanging up. Dean let the phone drop, and clutched Alex close.

"Dean?" Sam stopped the car and looked back.

"Some...dick...Angel I think...he has Cas and Clara...He wants to trade Cas for Alex." Sam's eyes narrowed.

"And Clara?" Dean shook his head. Alex whimpered, and both Dean and Sam swore they heard bones breaking. Dean pulled the boys shirt back up and saw the lumps were now twice the size they were before, and he could make out the bones for the wings through the stretched skin. "Dean we gotta get him-"

"What, to a hospital?! No." Dean was firm about that. He heard his phone vibrate once, and looked to see the gps location of where the asshole wanted to meet. Alex cried out, as the wings started to shift. "Dammit Sammy get us somewhere where he can rest!" Sam nodded, and quickly drove to the nearest hotel. As soon as Sam had the keys to their new room, Dean grabbed them and pulled Alex out of the car, the boy in too much pain to move. He got inside and rushed to the bathroom. "Get the first aid kit!" He yelled to Sam as he pulled Alex's shirt off, and sat him in the tub. Alex started to sob now, as the tips of the wings started to break the skin.

"Dean, he's gonna bite his tongue!" Sam said behind him after grabbing the first aid kit. Dean quickly motioned Sam to hand him some bandage, and wrapped it around his thumb.

"Here! Alex here bite onto this!" Alex did as told, his scream muffled as he bit down hard into Dean's thumb. The wings started pulling out more, and the crunching and squishing noise they made as the bones fully formed and the blood ran down Alex's back was something Dean would never forget. Finally, the wings stretched out full, and Dean had to half pull Alex into his lap to let the wings stretch out. Finally, Alex let go of Dean's thumb, sobbing still as his wings twitched in pain. Through the blood Dean would make out some grey feathers.

"D-Dean?" Alex finally rasped, looking up at the man who held him.

"It's ok, I got you." Dean gave him a weak smile, and brushed back some of the sweat and tears he had on his face. Alex gave a weak smile back, and rested his head on Dean's shoulder.

"W-We gotta get Clara back." Alex tried to move, but the wings threw him off balance.

"And we will...I promise. Let's...Let's get you cleaned up, and I'll help you out with those wings ok? Hey Sammy?" He looked back, but Sam already had a new pair of clothes just for Alex from the car. "You are the best." He chuckled. Sam went to go find out where the location that Castiel and Clara would be, while Dean ran the shower, and helped Alex clean off his feathers. When finished and helping him dry them, he ran his fingers through them, realizing they were a nice steely grey. Alex shuddered and his wings twitched a bit. "Sorry." Dean spoke softly. Alex looked in the mirror to look at his wings.

"It's ok...just...weird." He looked back to Dean, an unfamiliar emotion on his face. Dean tilted his head in confusion. "I wish...I wish you were my dad Dean...you..." Alex's face flushed a bit, and he looked down.

"Alex…" Dean smiled, knowing that feeling whenever Bobby would take him out to throw a ball around instead of shooting. "Once this is over...we can see what happens ok?" Alex looked up, surprised at what Dean said. "I can't just leave you to foster care...I...I just can't. You're a special kid. And not just cause of your badass wings." He chuckled. "I want to take care of you, and Clara...I...I want you, Clara, Castiel and I...to be a family." Alex felt tears form in his eyes again, as he listened to the older man who not only saved his life, but comforted him when he needed it.

"I...I would like that...and I think Clara would like that too." He couldn't help but cry a bit, as his wings curled up around him, still twitching every once in a while. Dean kneeled down and led him into a hug, and smiled as he felt the wings open up and wrap around him too.

"Hey now...no time for crying ok buddy? We gotta get your sister back...and Cas…" Alex nodded, rubbing his eyes and hiccupping a bit before he looked up to Dean. "Now, I need to get some holes in your shirt so your wings can have some comfort, so why don't you come out with me and we'll get going ok?" Dean reached up and cupped the boy's face. "We will get her, Alex. I promise."

"I know. I trust you." Alex smiled and leaned into the touch, his blue eyes reminding Dean of another heavenly being that was now grounded to earth.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Meanwhile, Castiel started to wake up, in a rather dark room. His whole body felt sluggish and odd, and when he tried to get up, he felt a weight around his neck. Reaching up he felt a leather collar on him, and looked around to see he had a chain leading up to said collar embedded into the ground. His breath quickened as he looked around, and noticed there was a cot not too far from him. Before he could stand, the lights in the room came on, blinding him momentarily. He heard a door open, and blinking, saw two suited men bring in Clara. She had on a hospital gown, and looked pale and weak. As soon as she saw Castiel she pulled away and stumbled over to him. He immediately grabbed her and pulled her close, glaring at the two men.

"My my, you are protective aren't you Castiel?" A voice said behind the two men. Castiel tried to see who it was, but the two were blocking his view. "It'll be a shame when we have to pull you two apart…" finally the two men left, leaving Castiel and Clara with a tall red haired man. He pushed up his glasses as he examined the former angel on the floor.

"Who are you?" Castiel didn't recognize him exactly, but knew he wasn't human.

"Don't remember me? I'm a little upset. But then again, you were one of the originals created by our Father." The man smirked. "I am Raziel." Castiel tensed a bit, and shifted to get Clara even further from the man. Raziel chuckled, and shook his head.

"Now now there's no reason to do that. Only reason I'm keeping you in here with her is so you can calm her down during the change."

"Change?" Castiel looked down and noticed that Clara was burning up. "What did you do to her?!"

"I did my job. In heaven, I was to create new fledglings, since our Father left us. It was easy since pure souls came to me first, and I could form them into what the Archangels needed. Now, thanks to our fall, I cannot do that. However, I still produce enough grace to continue making Angels. So...I found pure souls." Raziel smiled as he motioned to Clara. "Some, sadly weren't up to my par when it came to being pure, and they had to go, but Clara here….she's the most innocent I have ever seen. She doesn't see good or bad, just kindness. And soon she shall have her wings, and as we continue the injections, her and her brother will probably be my greatest creation since the fall!" Raziel smiled more, almost insanely at Castiel

"They're just children...why...how could you do this? The women that had them...they were working for you?"

"Yes. I needed more test subjects, and sadly, with the factions being at each other's throats, it was harder to get angels to bring in their vessels families for testing. Unfortunately, because of a mix up they took the two I needed safe instead. Luckily, they killed the mother and so I left them there knowing they'd be safe...till your little hunter arrived." Raziel sneered a bit, and straightened his coat. "Luckily, I'll be getting Alex back, and I have Clara here. And you...Well you're no use to me, so we'll see what happens, shall we?" Raziel turned, and left the room, closing and locking the door. The lights went off, leaving Clara and Castiel in the dark again.

"M-Mommy's dead?" Clara spoke after a moment, still shivering. Castiel carefully cradled her, as he pulled the back of her shirt up. Her wings were already forming. Castiel had to think quickly.

"If what he said was true...then yes. I'm so sorry Clara." The little girl started to sob, clinging to Castiel.

"It hurts...Cas...make it stop…" Clara whimpered more as the wings grew bigger. Castiel pulled off his outer shirt, prepping for what was to come. He began to rip it into makeshift bandages, and wrapped a bit around his fingers.  
"Here...bite this ok?" He offered up to Clara, knowing the breaking of the skin would happen soon.

"I...I don't wanna hurt you."

"You won't sweetheart...I just don't want you hurting more ok? Please?" Castiel leaned down and rested his forehead on hers, wincing at how hot she was. Clara bit into his pointer and middle finger, screaming as the wings finally broke through. Castiel whispered soothing words to her, as she cried, his fingers still being bit down into. He watched as the bloodied wings stretched out, twitching with each sob Clara let out. Castiel used his other hand to pull up the remains of his button down, and started to clean Clara's wings, knowing how sensitive they were, and began humming to her, to keep her mind off of it. When she let go of his fingers, he used his other hand to finish up more. As best as he could, he got the wings cleaned up, and held her close. "you have the most beautiful wings I've ever seen honey." He wiped the tears from her cheeks, watching as she turned to look at them.

"...Yours were prettier…" She said, sniffling a bit and leaning into Cas. "Mommy's dead...Alex and I...we're not normal…" She looked up to Cas. "What...do we do? Cas...I'm scared." She gripped the undershirt Cas had on still, and lowered her head.

"You'll stay with us. You and your brother. Dean and I, we'll take care of you." Cas shifted, and made Clara look at him in the eye. "You may not be what most consider normal, Clara, but you are still a child, and you still deserve a good home."

"D-Do you think Dean-"

"Dean will agree with me. If he hasn't already planned on taking you two in." Clara smiled weakly at him, before frowning.

"How...do we get out of here?" Castiel looked to the door, unsure of how to answer the little girl.

After figuring out a plan, Dean, Sam and Alex made it to the location. It looked like an abandoned hospital, and when they entered, they were lead further up where it looked like whoever was using this place had been busy cleaning it up. Alex wouldn't let any of the men get near him, always holding Dean's hand, and glancing around nervously. He had one of Dean's coats over his shoulders, so that his wings weren't showing.

"This is insane." Sam whispered to Dean as they were lead further into the hospital.

"Just go with the damn plan Sam." Dean whispered harshly, and Alex looked over to Sam.

"It'll be ok...I promise..." He smiled at Sam, and Sam tried to smile back, but he was too worried something would happen. Something bad.

"Hello Alex." Their attention was pulled to the man standing before them, the only one in a lab coat. "Do you remember me?" Alex's hand tightened around Deans, and he looks terrified suddenly.

"Y-You're the doctor" Alex speaks softly, almost wanting to bolt, but at Dean's comforting squeeze of his hand, he takes a deep breath and tries to calm down. "You're the one that kept injecting us with that glowing stuff."

"That's right. You could never say my name properly. Raziel." The fallen angel smiled, and even though it looked like he was trying to be sweet, it made them all shudder and how creepy he came off.

"Alright feathers we had a deal." Dean says, eyes narrowing. "Where's Cas?"  
"He's safe. I haven't hurt him or anything. After all, you brought me the child as I asked." Raziel put his hands together. "The boy, if you don't mind."

"I mind. I want to see Cas...and Clara. I know, you said you're taking both but…I want to say goodbye." Dean raised a hand before Raziel could argue about Clara. Raziel looked between them, and nodded, before looking to the two guards behind him. They left, and the two that followed Sam and Dean in got closer to Sam and Dean.

"Your weapons please." Raziel said, watching as the two former angels searched them. He then walked up and kneeled before Alex, and actually reached out to cup his face.

"I'm sorry you had to go through your winging alone." Alex flinched and pulled away.

"I didn't. Dean was there for me."

"But Dean's human." Raziel frowned.

"And so am I. Wings or not I'm still human." Alex mimicked Raziel's frown, which just upset the fallen angel even more. Dean smirked, and actually pulled Alex away from Raziel a bit.  
"Stop scaring the kid, douche." Alex leaned back into Dean, and looked to him. Raziel seemed to snap and pulled Alex away, and Dean and Sam were held down by the two guards. "Hey!" Dean struggled against the guard, but stilled when an angel blade was pulled close to his throat. Raziel pulled the coat off, and sneered at the grey wings.

"They've tainted you!" He moves away, almost as if he was afraid of catching something from the boy. Alex quickly snatched the coat back and put it on.

"No, you did. When those women kidnapped us, they made me kill."

"Y-You're not longer pure…" Raziel glared, upset at himself and the boy now. At that moment, Castiel and Clara were brought into the room. Alex rushed over to Clara, and then hugged Castiel when he kneeled down. Castiel still had the collar around his throat, and the chain was being held by the guard. Alex didn't let go of Castiel, and looked like he was shaking. Castiel looked to Dean, and was relieved to see he was somewhat ok.

"Let me say goodbye to Clara." Dean gritted out, glaring at the red haired man. Raziel looked to Clara, who was scared of moving, but motioned for her to go to him. Dean was let go and immediately scooped the little girl into his arms and held her.

"Dean!" Clara clinged and tried so hard not to cry, to be brave like Castiel told her to. Dean rubbed her back as best he could with the wings, and chuckled as the stretched out more.

"Look at you, such pretty wings." Dean said as he smiled and held the little girl close.

"Not as pretty as Cas…" Clara mumbled, but clinged to the hunter anyways.

"As nice as this is, I need to get back to work. Take your abomination of a former angel and go." Raziel turned to Alex and Castiel, and pulled Alex away from the chained man, only to be slashed at by an angel blade. Castiel stood up, pulling the collar off of him, and grabbing Alex.

"H-How?!" Raziel growled, and Sam took down the guard and got their guns and blades back. They all carefully stood in a circle, making sure no one could move closer to them or the kids.

"Kid's a fast learner. Better than Sammy even." Dean chuckled, and when Raziel looked to the floor where the collar was, he could see a lock pick there in the lock of the collar. Alex's coat was pushed off during the grab, and Raziel could see he was holding two Angel Blades in the oversized coat. One for him, one for Castiel.

"Brilliant, I must say...but how do you plan on getting out of here?"

"Same way we always do dipshit." Dean shot the two guards blocking the exit. "We run." The bullets were made out of some of the angels' blades they had acquired while Castiel had been fighting his brothers and sisters, and they were effective enough for them to run. Castiel actually picked up Alex so it was easier for them to run, and together the three made their way through the hospital. Unfortunately, the deserted halls all looked the same, and they started to get lost trying to find an exit.

"Dammit Dean this is what I was worried about."

"Hey I thought you were looking where we were headed while we were being lead up here!" Dean and Sam argued, quietly so not to attract attention, as they continue to move through the hospital.

"I was busy keeping an eye out for other guards!" Sam whispered harshly. Castiel looked around, and let Alex down carefully.

"Let's just keep down, keep quiet, and find the exit." Castiel whispered to them both. Clara then started to tug on Dean's shirt.

"Dean Dean!" She pointed to a room at the end of the hall.

"What?"

"Something that'll help Cas!" Dean looked back to Castiel, who looked just as confused as he did. "Come on!" She wiggled out of Dean's arms and ran to the door.

"Clara!" Dean bolted after her, picking her back up. "Don't run out of my arms ok? What's inside?" The others rushed over, still keeping an eye out for any of the guards.

"Grace!" Clara smiled at them. Castiel tensed, and looked so confused before he opened the door. There, inside one of the storage rooms where bottles and jars full of glowing grace. Castiel entered, looking around stunned.

"What the hell is all this?" Sam asked, stunned.

"It's untouched Grace…" Castiel touched one of the jars, and shuddered as it glowed a bit brighter.

"Ok...who is this guy again?" Dean asked, looking around before ushering Alex inside and pulling the door closed.

"Raziel. He's the one who creates fledglings...ever since God left. He's been known for some of his more, cruel experiments as well, which is why I was so afraid for the kids when he introduced himself."

"So you've never seen him before?" Sam asked, amazed at how much the room lit up without them needing flashlights or anything.

"No, he was always hidden away, so he could work alone on creating new angels. No one even knew if he was real or not." Castiel looked around, amazed. "Even now, closed off from Heaven he can still do this."

"Yeah that's real impressive. Why are we still here?!" Dean growled, as he listened at the door in case the guards heard them.

"Cause Cas can be an angel again!" Clara said, looking up at everyone around her. Dean tensed, and looked to Castiel, who also seemed to tense up, thinking of the possibility. He looked back to Dean, almost as if to ask permission before saying anything.

"Do it Cas."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

That's all Castiel needed. He was so worried Dean didn't want him to be an Angel anymore, even if he was fallen, because of how their relationship was. But with that simple nod from him and hearing Dean's approval, Castiel grabbed the Grace he had touched earlier, and opened the jar. Dean and Sam shielded the children's eye as the grace took over Castiel, and finally settled after a brilliant bright light. He blinked, and looked to the children and the Winchesters.

"Cas?" Dean looked worried, almost terrified as he watched Castiel move to pick up Clara, who rushed to his side the moment she could.

"I'm ok." He smiled at Dean, and looked over to Clara. "Let's get out of here." They left the supply room, and only made it halfway down the hall before Castiel cried out in pain, and had to put Clara down. He felt like he was on fire and numb at the same time.

"Cas!" Dean rushed to his side as the angel fell to one knee, and began shaking. "Cas what's wrong, what's happening?!"

"I...I'm not sure...I'm...hot…." Dean pulled him close to him, and pulled the back of his shirt up.

"Shit...that grace is doing the same thing it did to the kids...Cas...your back…" He watched as the skin started to bruise and swell, Castiel clutching onto Dean for support. He never thought his wings would feel like this. Even in his vessel, he could feel a faint tug of them behind him, and only seemed to use them when he needed to, but this...this felt like going into Hell all over again. Dean pulled off his jacket, and let Castiel bite down into the leather, as the sound of bones cracking and blood gushing filled the hall. Finally, after what seemed like hours to them all, Castiel's wings finally pulled away from his back, loose skin tearing as they stretched. Dean never thought he'd see anything like this again. The sleek black feathers were soaked in blood, but as Castiel gave them a careful shake, the blood didn't stick, letting his full black wings shimmer before them.

"Told you his wings were pretty…" Clara said, smiling. Dean helped Castiel stand, and he gave a weak smile to Sam and the kids. Sam chuckled, and picked up Clara to get ready to leave. They all stopped and tensed when they heard the slow clapping from behind them.

"Bravo, Castiel. You managed to stumble upon where I keep the grace I produce." Raziel stood behind them, clearly annoyed. "So not only have you fools tainted my first successful batch of new fledglings, you also took some of the grace that could have been used to make more of us. What do you have to say for yourself?" Raziel growled, angel blade in hand.

"Wait…" Castiel put Clara down, and moved in front of everyone, wings extending to hide his family. "You don't have to do this Raziel."

"What are you talking about? Of course I do. This is what I was created to do. While our father is away, I create new fledglings, new grace, and even if I have the time new species. Now that heaven is closed and all I have is the grace I produce, why wouldn't I make more of us?!"

"Why not help the ones that are already here Raziel? Our brothers and sisters, who are weak, and dying. Those who are confused and scared. I've heard of the tales that you were also, a doctor, when God was in heaven."

"...That was a long time ago." Raziel's eyes seem distant, remembering the days that if there were any battles, he would heal his brothers and sisters. That was before God gave him his new task, and he took on so many other responsibilities.

"But you still know how to. Our brothers and sisters, they need help. They need you, Raziel." Castiel watched as the angel before him considered his words.

"And the children?" Raziel said after a moment.

"I will take care of them. They will be safe, and happy. Away from the pain that our brothers and sisters face now."

"You alone can't take care of two fledglings." Raziel glared, tensing a bit.

"He won't be alone." Dean gently pushed on Castiel's wing, to let him step up. "I'm going to help him."

"So a fallen angel and a hunter are going to take care of my only two successful fledglings, while I go back to what I was originally created to do?" Raziel blinked, and lowered his blade, considering the possibilities of such an agreement. He looked back to Castiel, the "traitor" as his brethren kept saying, and his...hunter? Lover? He couldn't tell.

"What do you say, Raziel?" Castiel asked, after giving Raziel a few to think everything over.

"I say...no." And with that, he threw the blade at Castiel. Castiel tensed, but before the blade could even touch him, he was shoved, hard, and heard a grunt of pain coming from his side. "I say that I'd rather do this. I'll keep taking human children, pure, human children, and making them into angels." Castiel could hear Raziel continue to talk, but wasn't focusing on his words. He was focusing on the yell of Dean's name from Sam, on how Clara screamed, and how Alex cried out, as Dean fell back in pain. The angel blade was sticking out of his chest, blood seeping from the wound.

"NO!" Castiel, with speed he wasn't even sure he had before, attacked Raziel. He wanted to go to Dean, but knew that Raziel would keep attacking until Castiel himself was dead, or he got ahold of the kids.

"Dean, Dean!" Alex was at his side at an instant, while Sam helped pull Dean up to his lap, to let his head rest up. Dean winced, and watched as the two angels battled. "Dean!" Alex cried again, and grabbed his hand. Clara was crying next to Alex, scared that the man who helped her, who comforted her and said he'd take care of her and her brother, would die.

"Hey buddy…" Dean smiled at Alex, making sure to focus on him instead of Castiel. "I'll be ok…" He knew he was lying through his teeth, but he didn't want to see Alex any more upset.

"Don't...you can't go!" Alex held his hand tighter, and watched with tears forming as Dean started to choke a bit at the blood coming up his wind pipe. "Don't you dare die on us! You promised!" Alex grabbed at the blade, and gasped when he felt warmth flow through him.

He knew what he had to do.

"Clara!" Clara looked confused, before sniffling and going to the other side of Dean. Sam watched as both kids grabbed the blade with of their hands, and with the other, put their hands over the wound. Sam choked back a laugh as he saw the familiar glow of grace from their hands, as they healed Dean. Dean groaned, it wasn't like Castiel's grace, which was familiar with healing This was new and inexperienced, which made it hurt, but finally they pulled away, and through the mess of blood and the hold in Dean's shirt, they all could see his was healed. Dean chuckled and pulled both kids close.

"Told you I'd be fine." He muttered, before looking up to the fight. Castiel hadn't noticed Dean being healed, was more focused on fighting Raziel.

Raziel, unfortunately, was winning, not blinded by emotions as Castiel was. He was however blinded by his pride and his calculations, only focusing on Castiel. He never noticed Dean coming up from behind him. He didn't realize the hunter was fine until the angel blade he had used earlier was in his back, sticking out of his chest. Even Castiel jumped a bit, before looking behind Raziel and seeing Dean.

"Dean!" Dean pushed Raziel away, and watched as he died, before looking up to Castiel and getting an armful of surprised and relieved angel.

"I'm ok Cas...the kids got me." Castiel looked to Clara and Alex, who were holding hands, the same hands that healed Dean, still covered in some of his blood. He smiled, before looking to Sam, who looked just as relieved.

"Let's get out of here then."

They didn't have any problems getting to the impala. Castiel sat in the back, exhausted from everything, and pulled his wings around the children as they rested on him. Dean watched from the rearview mirror, before looking to Sam.

"I want to get to the bunker as quickly as possible, but the angels in the back are exhausted, and I'm exhausted and-"

"I'm honestly exhausted too Dean. Let's just get out of town, grab a motel, and grab some food and rest. Two rooms?" Sam looked to his brother, grinning.

"...Yeah, two rooms." He looked back to Castiel, who was listening to them, but didn't chip in anything. He just smiled and nodded to Dean, before closing his eyes.

Half an hour later Dean helped Castiel get the half away kids into one room, while Sam went to the local diner to get some takeout for everyone. Clara was still sleeping, her wings fluttering every once in a while as she slept, while Alex managed to wake up and help Dean and Castiel get the beds ready for them both.

"Hey Dean?" Alex spoke suddenly, while Castiel went to get cleaned up from the wings.

"Yeah?"

"Does...this mean you're our dad?" Dean tensed, and looked to Alex, who looked scared for even asking.

"I-If you want to call me Dad…" Dean's voice cracked. He never thought he would hear those words, or even live long enough or find anything who'd want to have children with him. Ben never called him dad, it was always Dean, and now…

Dean looked to the bathroom door, where Castiel was still getting cleaned up. Did Castiel want to share this with him? This life, where he, Dean, Sam, and now these two fledglings, saved people, hunted things, the whole family business. He looked back to Alex, who was still confused, his wings slowly wrapping around him as if to hide himself away in case Dean got upset. He cleared his throat, and smiled at him.

"If you wanna call me Dad, that's fine. I'm not gonna force it. You can still call me Dean if that makes you feel better." Alex nodded, before giving a small smile.

"I'd like to call you Dad...you...you've been more of a dad to me than my actual dad." Dean smiled back, before going over and hugging Alex close.

"Then Dad it is. I'm gonna go talk to Cas for a bit ok? Sam should be coming back with food, so don't let anyone but him in ok?" Alex nodded, his wings fluttering with excitement. Dean went to the door, hearing the shower turn off earlier, and knocked. "Cas, I'm coming in." He tried the door and found it unlocked.

Inside was still steamy and warm from the shower Castiel had just gotten, luckily he had his pants on, and was trying to dry his wings as best he could. Dean smiled, watching him a bit before going over and grabbing the towel from him.

"Here, let me." He spoke softly, and began to dry them as he did for Alex. Castiel sighed, and let him, all the while closing his eyes.

"Thank you Dean."

"Anytime Cas." He let a moment of quiet go by, before speaking up again. "Alex asked to call me Dad." Castiel's eyes opened and he looked to Dean.

"What did you tell him?"

"I told him he could call me dad, or Dean, didn't matter. He said he'd rather call me Dad." Dean finished with the one wing, and went to the next. "This is why I'm in here, actually. I...We need to talk." Dean looked over to Castiel, green meeting blue. "About us...and what happened before you and Clara got taken."

"You mean...the kiss?" Castiel visibly gulped, his adam's apple bobbing. Dean bit his lip as he watched said adam's apple, before his eyes looked back to Castiel's.

"Yeah. Cas...I care about you. A lot. I...Shit I'm not good with this." Dean sighed, his hands dropping from the wings while his mind tried to think how to say what he felt without a chick flick moment happening, but all was forgotten when Castiel suddenly grabbed Dean's face and kissed him. Dean closed his eyes and pulled the angel closer, kissing back with all he had to say but couldn't say. Finally Dean pulled away, smiling a bit as he watched Castiel's eyes open.

"Me too Dean." He spoke softly, knowing it was hard for the hunter to speak about his emotions. "Do you think...Alex and Clara...wouldn't want-"

"Of course Cas." Dean interrupted, giving him a gentle kiss. "Let's go talk to them about it before Sammy arrives back with food, ok?" Castiel smiled, and nodded, letting his hand touch Deans, and smiled even more as Dean took it and held it.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

((This chapter is dedicated to my reviewers, watergoddsskasey, GracefulWolvesInTheNight, and my first reviewer, catbean715. Thank you all, and thank you all followed and or favorited and bookmarked this story! I'm already working on the next chapter, but I'm not sure how long it'll be before I finish since I'm in the middle of job hunting. Again, thank you all! You make me smile and want to continue to write!))

When they got out of the bathroom, Clara and Alex were both up, and trying to figure each other's wings out. Castiel smiled and went over to explain how to properly clean and straighten the feathers.

"Let's get you cleaned up Clara, and Alex you should come so you can see how to do it yourself." Castiel picked the little girl up, and Dean motioned for Alex to follow, smiling as Castiel began telling the two how to move well with their wings and showing them his as he ran the bath. Sam finally came in, and Dean helped him get the food set up, telling Sam quietly about what he and Alex talked about, not quite going into the details about him and his angel. However, instead of looking happy, Sam looked worried.

"Can I talk to you outside?" He asked, and Dean followed his younger brother outside. "Look, don't get me wrong I'm happy that the kids wanna stay, but shouldn't we look to see if their father is alive? Or if there's any other family members that can take them?" Dean tensed. He wasn't expecting this, not from Sam.

"Seriously? Sam, with how those kids are right now….how do you think anyone else would react?!"

"And I don't disagree Dean, it's just...what would you do if your kids went missing? We should just check…" Sam sighed and finally reached up, cupping Dean's face and pressing their foreheads together. Dean gasped, and looked into Sam's eyes. They hadn't done anything like this in years, not since Sam decided to quit the family business. "I don't want you to get hurt. I don't want to see Clara, Alex, or Cas hurt either. Let's just make sure, cover all grounds, before we completely take them in. If there is nothing, I have no problem becoming 'Uncle Sammy'." He chuckled, and Dean gave a weak smile back. He nodded, and pulled Sam into a hug. He relaxed as Sam hugged him back, and was glad to hear why Sam was worried.

"Let's get back inside, ok?" Dean finally pulled away, smiling at his brother. Sam nodded, and when they entered the hotel room, they found the kids already eating, while Castiel tried to eat his burger, but looked concern.

"Something wrong Cas?" Sam went and grabbed his salad, while Dean snatched his burger out of the bag.

"It tastes different…I can taste every molecule…." He groaned, and put the burger down, clearly upset at this discovery. Dean and Sam looked to each other, before Sam handed him his salad.

"Here, try this." Castiel took it, and took a very careful bite, before nodding and humming at the taste.

"This...is much better. Still can taste everything, but it's not as...greasy?" He tilted his head as the thought. Sam chuckled.

"You eat that; I'll take your burger ok?" Sam said, grabbing the forgotten sandwich.

"Thank you Sam." Castiel smiled, and began to munch away happily. Sam chuckled, before looking to the two children. They were eating happily, but he could tell they were still tired.

"Hey Alex...what's your last name?" Alex looked up, and worried a bit. Dean tensed and stopped, watching his brother and the boy he wanted to adopt interact.

"Blakely. My father's name was Spencer...and my mother's was Trish." Alex spoke softly, before suddenly looking to Clara. Clara bit her lip, trying not to cry. "Clara-"

"I know. That man told me that mommy's dead." Dean put down his food, and went and picked up Clara. She clinged to him, and he gave Sam a look. Sam then gave him the 'it had to happen sooner than later' look, before gently talking to Alex.

"I have one more question for you Alex. Do...you remember when your dad left?" Alex put his food down, and thought back.

"It...was after he took us the last time to the doctors. Where they did their weird tests and stuff…" He paused, before looking to Castiel. "Clara said he wasn't daddy. He was someone else."

"He was an angel. But not a good one, like Cas…" Clara spoke up, and Dean smiled at the little girl.

"Right...but no one believed her when she kept telling them he wasn't the same. It wasn't until my first accident...I broke the T.V. I was yelling at our dad, telling him I didn't want to go to the doctors…that whatever they were doing hurt me, hurt Clara...and I couldn't do it anymore. Mom heard us, and told me and Clara to go upstairs, and they began yelling. It wasn't till we were already in bed that Dad came up. He kept apologizing, kept hugging me and Clara."

"He didn't have the wings anymore…" Clara mumbled, remembering back to that day. Castiel looked to Dean, then to Sam.

"Your father must've pushed the angel out of him...because he was hurting you and Clara." Castiel spoke softly.

"And then he left?" Dean asked, looking to Sam.

"And then he left. A couple weeks later, those women came…" Alex grew quiet.

"Right, we know the rest…" Sam cleared his throat, feeling bad for bringing it up. "I'm sorry Alex, Clara...I just...I wanted to know, so maybe I could find out what happened. Make...Make sure this isn't happening to others." Which was true, to say the least. He just didn't want his brother and Castiel to get hurt. Not again. Not after all that had happened. Dean smiled, giving him a silent 'thank you' as Clara and Alex went back to eating.

After Sam left for his room, Castiel and Dean got the children ready for bed. Knowing now that they were going to stay, the kids took it upon themselves to get to know the two men better, which basically meant twenty questions.

"What's your favorite food?" Clara asked Dean as he helped her into her night shirt, after cutting slits for the wings in the back.

"Pie. What's yours?"

"I like cake!" Dean chuckled.

"I like apple pie." Alex chipped in, helping Castiel with his own wings and their lack of wanting to be put through the shirt holes.

"Best pie ever. Well...that and cherry."

"Never had cherry pie." Clara blinked up at him.

"We're gonna have to change that…" Dean muttered, brushing his fingers through her blonde hair. After noticing a little tug from them, he grabbed his brush and started brushing out the tangles from her hair. He knew Sam would bitch about them, so he figured might as well save Clara the pain when she woke up. Clara meanwhile, was thinking of the next question.

"What's your favorite animal?"

"I like bees." Castiel spoke up, happy to have finally won the fight against Alex's shirt.

"Bee's aren't an animal." Clara frowned.

"They're insects, so they count." Alex grinned at her. "What about you Dean?"

"I dunno...don't think I have one really."

"We're gonna have to change that" Clara said with a very serious tone, nodding a bit to herself. Castiel and Dean both chuckled.

"What about you Alex?"

"I like rats."

"Ew."

"What? I like them Clara, you don't have to. What about you?"

"I like Kittens, and puppies, and-"

"You like everything." Alex teased, and smiled kindly at his sister as she pouted.

This went on for quite some time. The children would ask a question, and they'd practically go around the room answering. Almost an hour later, with them all finally settled in, and Castiel carefully tucked his black wings around them to keep them warm, the children started to doze.

"Hey Dean?" Alex spoke up, after Clara finished telling them why princesses should be able to save themselves.

"Yeah Alex?"

"Did...you guys…?" He looked between the two men, and it clicked with Dean.

"Oh. Yeah we talked. And…"

"We'd love to." Castiel spoke up. "We want you both to be comfortable, so if you want to call us Cas and Dean, you can. Or...Dads…" He tilted his head slightly, thinking on that. It sounded weird coming from him.

"I'd rather call you papa." Clara muttered into Castiel's shirt. "You seem like a papa. Dean seems like a daddy." Alex looked to them, and smiled.

"Then Papa and Daddy it is." Dean chuckled and paused, looking at the sight before him. He had someone he cared about, granted he hadn't said the three magic words yet, but they were getting there. He had two kids who needed him, and Castiel, and who were both very special in their own ways. He had Sam, who was in the other hotel room, probably looking up what information he could as soon as possible so that they could have their 'happy ending'. And he even had Kevin at the bunker, granted the kid was starting to go insane with trying to decipher the tablets. Maybe they'll all take a break. Try to unwind before they take Metatron and all the angels on.

"Dean?" Castiel's voice shook him out of his thoughts, and he blinked owlishly at him.

"Yeah?"

"You...didn't hear a word I said." Castiel frowned, and Dean felt his cheeks heat up.

"No...I uh...I was thinking. Sorry Cas." Castiel hummed, before leaning in closer to Dean.

"About?"

"...Everything. You, the kids…" who both were sounds asleep, wings linked together in their own little cocoon. "Sam...Kevin...Just everything that's happened." Dean chuckled.

"Do you regret it?" Dean looked up to Castiel, confused.

"Regret what?"

"Everything?"

"No. Of course not."

"Even us?" Dean blinked, and looked into Castiel's eyes. His blue eyes focused on Dean, looking for any hint of regret or change at all, and Dean didn't even realize the words left his lips till he saw those blue eyes widen in surprise.

"I love you Cas." Castiel licked his lips carefully, and waited for Dean to say anything else, and after a smile spread on Dean's face, Castiel smiled back. He leaned in and kissed his hunter, humming happily as Dean kissed back. They parted slightly, and Castiel whispered softly,

"I love you too Dean."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

Only once, did they all wake that night, and that was when Clara had a nightmare about her mommy and daddy, and started sobbing in Alex's arms. Even Alex started crying softly, and both children found comfort when Dean and Castiel held them close. Castiel brushed Clara's hair soothingly, while Dean rubbed Alex's arm, occasionally letting his hand brush along their wings. After a while, Dean looked up to Castiel, who looked heartbroken that they couldn't comfort them. Dean leaned in, and kissed Castiel softly.

"You tell anyone about this I will hurt you." He murmured against his angel's lips, before kissing Alex's head. He hummed a few notes, before he began to sing. As he sang the one song he remembered his mother singing him, he listened as Clara's sobs softened, and Alex shifted to look up to him. He could feel his face heat up, but continued to sing, reaching out and brushing a few stray tears from his little girls' face, before dropping his head down to where Alex's shoulder was. She giggled, and smiled at him, while Alex leaned in closer to the hug. Once he was done, he hummed a few more notes of the song, before Clara spoke up.

"What song was that?"

"Hey Jude." Dean smiled, glad to see she wasn't crying anymore. "My mom use to sing it to me."

"Where's your mom now?" Alex asked, sniffling a bit as he too, had stopped crying.

"She died...when I was 4. She was killed by a demon." Dean watched as both kids looked to him, and for a moment there was a tense silence in the room.

"And your daddy?" Clara asked.

"He also died. It's just me and Sammy. Well...and Cas." Clara looked back to the angel holding her, and nuzzled closer.

"'m sorry." she murmured, yawning as she started to doze.

"Don't be. It's in the past. As long as I have my family now." Dean gently took her hand, and pressed a gentle kiss on her knuckles. She giggled, before settling down again. Alex waited till she fell asleep before speaking up.

"Thank you."

"That's what families for." Dean said, kissing the top of his head. "Get some sleep. Tomorrow we're going to the bunker, and you get to see your new room, and we'll do all kinds of things ok?" Alex nodded, and let his wings stretch out to curl around Clara, and snuggled closer to his sister. Dean smiled, before looking up to Castiel.

"Do you even need to sleep Cas?" He chuckled at the tired looking angel. Castiel sighed, and nodded.

"Only because my vessel's still getting use to having grace back in it. It'll be a few days before I'm back to normal. And even then...I liked some aspects of sleep." He smiled.

"Oh?"

"Well...I liked sleeping when it was you...and I...and the children. I really enjoyed that." Dean chuckled.

"I did too. Wish we could do it more often."

"Fledglings normally stay in a nest until they are of age."

"...What's of age?"

"...it would be, 10 years, by human length."

"Oh...that's not bad…" Dean thought about it for a moment. "What...exactly...would a nest...be exactly?" Dean slowly asked. Castiel closed his eyes, thinking.

"It would be of different things. Normally when building a nest, it's made of anything soft that is nearby, as well as feathers of the parents. And as the fledglings grow their, wings, as well as personal materials from their childhood."

"Wait...how do you know about this again?"

"Angels can have their own Dean. It's just; normally Raziel would be the one to produce the fledglings. If two angels wanted to, they could come down to earth, find appropriate vessels, and have a nest. It hasn't been done for quite some time mind you…"

"Wow...learn something new every day." Dean chuckled.

"Why did you want to know Dean?" Castiel glanced over at the hunter, and watched as he shifted uncomfortably.

"I was just curious…"

"Dean…" Castiel used a warning tone that Dean realized he learned from him. He muttered something as he looked down, and Castiel leaned in closer. "What?"

"Well, I mean the kids...they've been practically traumatized and I get the feeling they're gonna come to bed with us anyways and-"

"Dean do you...want to build a nest with me?" Dean looked up, eyes wide as he felt his whole face heat up, all the way to the tips of his ears.

"Well...uh...yes? For the kids, I mean-" He was cut off by Castiel kissing him. He gave a low moan into the kiss, before hearing a groan and an 'eeeewww' from under them. They pulled away and saw that they had woken up Clara and Alex. "Sorry guys!" Dean felt even more embarrassed.

"Go to sleep Daddy." Clara groaned, before curling up closer to her brother. Dean looked back to Castiel, who was just as red as he felt, and both smiled. With a gentle flutter of Castiel's' wings, they curled closer and both men fell asleep in no time.

Dean groaned as he heard someone knocking on the door. He felt like he didn't nearly enough sleep, even though he knew he got more than his usual 4 hours. He pulled away from the pile of limbs and wings, and answered the door.

"Mornin' Dean." Sam held up coffee and breakfast, and Dean sighed while smiling.

"Man I knew there was a reason I loved you so much."

"Cause I'm awesome and I'm your brother?"

"...right. Hey, did you…" He looked back to the sleeping bundle of wings, and looked back to Sam. "Did you find anything?" Sam put the food down on the table, grabbed his coffee and motioned for Dean to step outside. Dean grabbed his own coffee, and followed his younger brother.

"Well, I've got kinda good and kinda bad news. Kinda bad news is, their father was found yesterday, after we left the city at a hotel. He apparently killed himself, after he identified his wife's' body, and with all the kids they found…"

"He assumed Clara and Alex were dead too…" Dean said softly, and felt his stomach drop. "So what's the kinda good news?"

"I'm an uncle?" Sam gave a faint strained smile, and Dean couldn't help but bark out a laugh.

"Yeah I guess you are. Come on, let's feed the little monsters and hit the road."

A few hours later, and Dean pulled his Baby into the garage of the bunker. During which, Castiel, Sam and Dean had been telling the children stories of some of the different things they did, of course, editing it for them a bit. As they entered the main room, Kevin came out and instantly started yelling.

"What took you guys so long!? I thought you said this would be an easy case. You left me here, with Crowley in your weird sex dungeon and-" he stopped when he saw Castiel's wings. "Y-You're…" and froze even more when he saw the two children step out, both having wings as well.

"Kevin!" Dean went over and clapped a hand on his shoulder. "You remember Cas? And these two, are Clara and Alex. They're staying with us from now on." Kevin looked over to Dean, still very tense.

"What...happened?" He gave a soft whine, but Sam took over.

"I'll explain, Dean why don't you and Cas get the kids settled in?" Sam offered, chuckling at Kevin's panic look. Dean nodded, and led Castiel and the kids further into the bunker.

"You remember most of what you saw last time, right Cas?" Castiel held Clara, while Alex took his other hand.

"I didn't see much, but I do remember the water pressure is very good." Dean chuckled, and began the tour.

The kids loved it, and although they did find some things that Dean had to hide or remember later one that he'd have to put somewhere else. Although when they got to the file room, Dean stopped. He was weary of having the kids near Crowley, so instead told them both "you're not allowed in here ok?" which they both nodded. Finally they went up to where the bedrooms were. Until Castiel and Dean figured out the whole 'nesting' thing, Dean got the bedroom next to his set up with two beds and pushed them together. He figured once they got everything together, that'd be the kids play room. Close to Dean and Castiel's room, where they could always go if they needed them.

"We need to figure out some shopping here soon...they're gonna need clothes." Dean looked over to the two as they started to explore their room, talking quietly to themselves.

"I'll see what I can do about helping them hiding their wings…" Castiel smiled. Dean nodded. He smirked as he watched Clara point out a corner, and whisper something to her brother, before they looked over to Dean and Castiel. Alex whispered something back, before Clara went over and hugged Dean's leg.

"What're you up to princess?" Clara giggled, and smiled bashfully.

"I was telling Alex, that I would love a table...to draw...and paint...annnnnd…" Clara bit her lip, smiling still. "He told me to ask you." Dean chuckled. They didn't even consider toys, Clara was happy with just someplace to color and draw.

"I think we can do that. Come on; let's go see what Uncle Sammy's doing." They headed downstairs, where Sam had finished getting Kevin all caught up. Kevin looked slightly stunned, but smiled weakly as they came into the main room. Kevin introduced himself to the kids, and asked them polite questions while Sam pulled Dean aside.

"We need to figure out money here soon. I mean, it's easy since it was you and me, but now with Cas and Kevin, and the kids? I just checked the kitchen, we're almost out of food, and then there's-"

"Getting the kids what they need I know." Dean finished. He sighed, and understood exactly what Sam was getting at. "...You still have Charlie's email?"


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

((I got two chapters out at once! :D In this version, Charlie is still around, not with Dorothy. Sorry, but I could not resist having Charlie as the aunt to spoil the kids ;D Enjoy~))

After sending an email to Charlie, explaining slightly the situation, Dean's phone began to ring. He blinked and answered.

"What do you mean you're a father?! Oh my God who's the mother?! And how are they-"

"Nice to hear from you Charlie!" Dean interrupted. "Look they're….we just adopted them." Dean moved away from the main room and went into the library. He then explained the case they just finished, and what happened with Alex, Clara and Castiel.

"Aww! Oh my God Dean you're a family man now!" Charlie squealed. Dean chuckled.

"Only problem is that we don't really have the money to start up this little family...so I was wondering-"

"If I could help out by transferring money to an account for the kids to get clothes toys and action figures? Absolutely! Call it a welcome home gift from their Aunt Charlie." Dean snickered. "And you do realize this means I have to visit right?"

"Of course. Man Sam and I would love to see you! And you could meet Kevin, see Cas, and meet the kids. Clara would really love it I'm sure…" Dean spoke fondly.

"I can't wait! I'll work on getting an account set up; it should only take a day or so. And in the meantime, give me one of the credit cards you have, I'll move some money around there so you can get started on some things for them ok?" Dean sighed. He owed Charlie so much.

"Thanks Charlie. I...I really appreciate it."

"It's no problem Dean. Like I said I get to be their aunt, and corrupt their tiny little minds into larping and rpgs and-" Dean's laugh cut her off. "What? I wanna help! Wait...are they gonna...hunt with you?" Dean stopped.

"...I don't know." He didn't want to say no, because he remembers him and Sam able to fight well on their own without their dad when they were young. At the same time, there was his dad. He did not want to become his father. Ever. So the thought of Clara and Alex becoming new versions of Sam and Dean scared him. "We'll figure that out at another time."

"Ok! Well, let's get started on that account."

About thirty minutes later, Dean went upstairs where Castiel had taken the kids. He heard them talking in Clara and Alex's bedroom, and when he peeked in, he smiled fondly. Castiel was trying to teach them how to focus on their wings, so they could hide them and go out. Alex was having a bit of trouble, but Clara managed to do it first try. Clara saw Dean and rushed over.

"Daddy!" Dean would never tire of hearing that. He picked the-no his- little girl up, and chuckled.

"So, I just got off the phone with Charlie...we'll be able to get them some clothes and stock up on food here shortly." Castiel nodded, and smiled. "I'm gonna go let Sam and Kevin know. I think we're gonna split into two cars. You, me, and these two rugrats go get them clothes, while Sam and Kevin get food. That way Kevin can get out. He...really needs to get out."

"I agree. Just give us a few, we'll be down shortly." Dean nodded and took Clara with him while he went to find his brother. After telling Sam his idea, Sam agreed. Kevin needed to get out, and Sam could get food for them.

"Is there anything you don't like?" He asked Clara. Clara thought about it for a moment.

"Mushrooms."

"...Have you had mushrooms before?"

"No. They just sound yucky." Both men chuckled.

"Well I'll make sure to get stuff that isn't yucky ok?"

"Hey Sammy, can you get a cherry pie?" Dean gave him a look that made Sam roll his eyes. "Oh and apple?"

"And cake?" Clara chipped in. Sam chuckled.

"How about...I get some stuff to make a cake?" Clara gasped and clapped her hands.

"Yes! Please Uncle Sammy!" Sam felt his face heat up. He couldn't help but smile at the little girl, and brush some of her blonde locks out of her eyes.

"Of course."

"Of course what?" Kevin had come from the kitchen, drinking a bottle of water.

"We're gonna get stuff to make a cake! Are you gonna help Kevin?" Clara tilted her head, and Dean swore she learned that from his angel. Kevin stopped, and blinked, before looking to Dean and Sam for instructions. Sam nodded to him, and Kevin gave the little girl a small smile.

"Yeah, sure I'll help." Clara cheered, and Dean had to shift her a bit because she was squirming.

"Alright, well Kevin you're going with Sam to the store."

"Wait...you're letting me out?"

"Yeah."

"What about the tablet? The angels?"

"Kid...you could use a break. Cas, Sam and I talked about it. And...I know I owe you an apology. We've been working you too hard, and...it's not right."

"...No, it's not." Kevin said carefully, before continuing. "But it needed to be done. We were supposed to close the gates of hell...not have the angels fall...so I know why we've been working so hard. But...if you wanna give me a little break, I am fine with that." Kevin gave Dean a smile, and went over to shake his hand. He was surprised when Dean pulled him in for a hug. Kevin looked to Sam in a panic, but Sam just stood there and grinned, letting his brother scare their prophet.

"Alright, let's get going." Sam said after Kevin pulled back. Kevin nodded, still dumbfounded by Dean's actions. Castiel and Alex finally came down, both without wings.

"Hey buddy. You ok now?" Alex nodded.

"It was hard to concentrate on making them go away. But Cas-"

"Papa" Clara corrected.

"It's ok Clara. He doesn't have to call me that." Castiel gave Alex a weak smile.

"No I-I meant to! I just...I'm waiting for this to end." Dean put Clara down and went over to Alex.

"What do you mean?"

"All of this...after everything happened with Dad and Mom, and the experiments...it...doesn't seem real." Alex explained. "That we...Clara and I...we already found a family that will take care of us...I'm just waiting for me to wake up back in that basement and all of this is a dream." Dean pulled Alex into a tight hug.

"It's not a dream." Dean whispered to him, feeling a hot prickling behind his eyes. He would not cry, not in front of Alex. He had to be strong. "I promise. You are not dreaming, and we will always, be here for you. Me, Cas...and Clara. Ok?" His voice grew thick as he tried not to let the tears fall from his eyes. Alex clinged to him. He nodded, afraid to speak that he'd start crying on Dean's shoulder. "It's ok. I know, it seems too good to be true. But it is. You've got me. You've got Cas. You've got Clara, and Uncle Sammy, and Kevin...hell you have an aunt who's probably going to spoil you rotten here in the next few days." Dean chuckled. "But I assure you. This is real. Ok?"

"Ok." Alex croaked out, pulling back from the hug slightly. His face was red and puffy from trying not to cry, and Dean realized he must look the same. He gave his boy a kiss on the forehead, before clearing his throat and looking to Castiel.

"Ready?"

They went to a local department store, and got the kids brand new everything. Dean decided toys and such may have to wait for Charlie's account, but while they were there they got not only clothes but bed sheets, towels, all their own bathroom supplies. Clara was having a blast, running around and pointing out all the different things. She never strayed far from Dean or Castiel, however at one point, a woman came up to her as she was looking at shirts with Castiel.

"Sweetheart, where's your mommy?" She asked, not noticing Castiel on the other side.

"She's gone." She spoke quietly, and backed up a bit from the woman.

"I can help you find her if you'd like." Clara gave a soft whine, and in an instant Castiel was behind her.

"Clara?" Clara instantly grabbed onto Castiel's hand, and turned away from the woman.

"Oh...I'm sorry, I thought she was lost." the woman backed up.

"No, she's fine. She's with me."

"Are you her father?"

"He's my papa." Clara said looking at the woman slightly.

"Cas." They all turned to see Dean and Alex standing there with the cart. "Everything ok?"

"I'm sorry; I saw her alone and thought she was lost." The woman stepped back.

"She wasn't alone." Castiel spoke softly, tilting his head.

"My mistake." the woman left, and Dean shook his head.

"Alright then. I think that covers everything for now." He looked at the cart, and went through the list in his head.

"Blankets." Castiel spoke up.

"Blankets?"

"Yes Dean. They need their own blankets. And we will be needing more for our room." He gave Dean a knowing look.

"Oh! Right. Blankets. Yeah let's go get some." They let the kids pick out their own, which Alex thought the Batman one they had was good, and Clara found a TMNT blanket she liked. Dean and Castiel had no problems, only happy that their children were happy. As they began to head to the front to check out, Clara stopped at a display full of stuffed animals. Dean looked over as she stared at a tiger plush that looked a lot like Hobbs from Calvin and Hobbs. He walked over, and picked it up. Clara's eyes widened when Dean handed it to her.

"Really?" She spoke softly.

"Really. Need something to sleep with." He gave her a small grin. He looked over to Alex, and motioned for him to pick one out if he wanted to.

"You sure?"

"Course I am." Alex went over, and picked up a fox. Both children held their new toys as they checked out, only handing them to the cashier for a moment before holding them again. Castiel reached over and held Dean's hand as the cashier finished ringing up their purchase. Dean looked over to Castiel, before giving him a smile. For once in a long time, Dean felt whole.


	10. Chapter 10

Pure Souls

Chapter 10

((Sorry it took so long to update! I've been super busy X_X))

When they got home, Sam and Kevin were already there and were finishing unpacking the groceries they had. Clara rushed over to both of them, to show off her new toy.

"Look Uncle Sammy, Kevin! Papa and Daddy got me this!" Sam chuckled, and took the toy from his new niece's hands.

"Cute. Did you name her?"

"It's a him. Daddy said I should name him Hobbs." Sam looked to his brother, who just gave him an innocent shrug.

"Well what do you wanna name him?"

"Dunno yet." Clara shrugged, before taking back the tiger and rushing off to find her brother.

"So, how was shopping?" Sam asked with a teasing tone. Dean chuckled, and sighed.

"Interesting. Some woman thought Clara was lost, scared her." Sam looked over worried.

"It's probably because you two don't really look like them…" Kevin said, before instantly regretting it.

"True...but that should matter." Dean growled.

"It doesn't...not to me or anything, but people are weird." Kevin tried to explain, not wanting to piss off Dean.

"...Yeah I guess." Dean sighed, before grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge.

"Water Dean?" Sam raised an eyebrow.

"Well I can't really drink beer all the time like I use to." Dean shrugged. "I'm gonna go help Cas get the kids set up." After he left, Kevin leaned over to Sam.

"Was that Dean being responsible?"

"Yep."

"...Should we be worried?"

"Not yet." Sam chuckled.

When he got into the kids room, Dean found Castiel helping Clara clean her wings. Alex was setting up the bed, but didn't seem to like anything he did with it. Dean smiled, and sat down next to him.

"Here...why don't you take a break, and let me help you with your wings too ok?" Alex blinked, before nodding to him. He let out a breath of air and with a gentle whoosh, his wings were back out. Dean motioned for him to turn around, and he began to brush his hands through the feathers, picking any fallen ones and setting them aside. Castiel was doing the same for Clara.

"Thank you." Alex said after a moment of silence.

"For?"

"Everything." Dean smiled.

"It's what a family does for each other." Alex looked to him and smiled, and Dean could tell he was starting to relax to the idea of this being his true family.

"'M hungry." Clara spoke up, looking up to Castiel.

"Well, let's get you guys something to eat."

The rest of the day went on easily. After lunch, Sam helped Dean get a desk for each of them into their room, and while Clara began to draw, Alex went downstairs to check out the library. Dean and Castiel decided to start working on their little project, and actually pulled Sam in to see what they could do about getting a bigger bed.

After talking it over with Sam, they all decided that once Charlie came to visit, they'd go out and get the materials to 'make a bed' for the nest. Looking online, they found what Castiel was looking for as far as a base, and when he and Dean groomed the kids, they made sure to collect the feathers that were loose. Dean honestly couldn't wait. He'd have to message Charlie later and let her know she needed to hurry up for that visit.

"Alright, I'm gonna go start on dinner." Sam said, stretching. "I'll see if Clara and Alex wanna help." He grinned over at Dean, who nodded. As soon as Sam and Kevin left, Dean was pulled over to Castiel and his lips were attacked, causing Dean to moan.

"Sorry." Castiel spoke softly after pulling back slightly. "I've wanted to do that for a while."

"Don't be." Dean said as he went back to kissing his angel. "We're not going to have much alone time with those two around." he chuckled. "Not that I don't mind." He pulled Castiel to the bed, and they laid there for a moment, sharing lazy kisses and gentle strokes of their arms, and Castiel's wings.

When they heard the creak of the door, they looked over and saw Clara and Alex peeking in, and Castiel motioned for them to come over. Clara instantly jumped into the bed, accepting the snuggles her Papa and Daddy had for her, while Alex calmly crawled over, and laughed when he was tackled by his family. They laid there, in perfect happiness, talking about what they wanted to do with the kids' room, what the kids wanted to do over the next few days, anything and everything. It was a little over an hour later that Sam knocked on the door.

"Dinner's ready guys!"

Sam had made pasta, and already had the two pies he picked up warming in the oven. Kevin and Alex were talking about school topics, Clara was asking Sam to show her how to cook, and Dean just smiled, and soaked all of this in. He laughed when he heard Kevin offer to teach the kids for a while since they were still getting used to having their wings, and Castiel said that if he didn't mind, it was fine. While they were cleaning up and getting dessert ready, Sam pulled Dean away for a moment.

"Do you remember when we were sent to heaven...and when you found me, my heaven?" How could Dean forget? It hurt him to see his Sammy enjoying life without him or his Dad. But instead of giving him hell, he nodded. "I don't think it's that anymore…" Dean tilted his head.

"What are you saying Sammy?"

"I'm saying this...with you, and Cas...Alex and Clara...and even Kevin...this is home. This…." Sam sighed. "This is my heaven." Dean blinked back the tears he could feel forming. He was so not gonna cry in front of his little brother.

"Really?" Sam nodded, and Dean could see he was having a hard time not tearing up himself. "Sammy…" Dean pulled his brother over for a hug.

"I'm really happy for you Dean. For finding Cas...and the kids. And I...I'm so happy we've got each other through this." Dean couldn't stop smiling afterwards.

That night, after getting the kids cleaned up and ready for bed, Dean and Castiel found themselves tucking their children in.

"Now, if you guys need us, we're right next door ok?" Clara nodded, and she held her tiger very close.

"We should be fine Daddy...thank you." Alex spoke softly, and watched as they turned off the lights, leaving one small nightlight they had gotten on.

"How long do you think before they're in our bed?" Dean asked as he and Castiel started getting ready for bed themselves.

"An hour." Dean chuckled at that.

It actually wasn't till close till four in the morning when they kids crept their way into Dean and Castiel's room, and Dean found himself with an arm full of Clara, tears staining her cheeks.

"What's wrong Princess?" Dean yawned as he pulled her closer, and looked to see where Alex was. Castiel was already sitting up, and holding his arms out for Alex. He looked shaken, but wasn't crying. He instantly curled into Castiel's arms, and seemed to relax more when Castiel began to stroke his wings.

"Bad dream...and you weren't there…." Clara mumbled into Dean's chest, and Dean sighed, feeling bad that he wasn't there, and mimicked Castiel in stroking Clara's wings. She whimpered, clinging closer.

"Come on you two…" Castiel pulled Alex into the bed, and Dean started to lay Clara down, when she cried out.

"I forgot Hobbs!" Dean chuckled, and kissed her forehead.

"I'll go get him then…" He went to the other room, and grabbed not only Clara's stuffed tiger, as well as Alex's fox and both the blankets they had. Clara seemed relieved when he came in with Hobbs and her turtle's blanket, and Alex gratefully took his things from Dean as well.

"What did you name him?" Castiel asked, while Dean got Clara tucked into her blanket.

"I haven't yet...What do you think I should name him?" Castiel hummed, thinking for a moment.

"Jimmy." Alex held up the fox, looking at it as he thought over the name.

"I like that...Jimmy…"

"I think it's time then for you and Jimmy to get some sleep." Castiel kissed his forehead, and looked over to Clara, seeing that she was already asleep.

"I...think so too...goodnight," Alex yawned, and snuggled down into his blanket. "...Papa." Castiel looked to Dean, and smiled. Dean chuckled, before reaching out and taking Castiel's hand. They held hands as they fell asleep, the children in between them.


End file.
